16 Are prehospital deaths from trauma and accidental injury preventable? A summary report support from HM Senior Coroner for Cheshire injury to discovery and the time from discovery to and receiving ethical approval from the University the call for assistance. of Manchester Research Ethics Committee, the researchers retrospectively reviewed inquest The inclusion criteria for the study were that records. deaths were from traumatic or accidental injury, within the three-year time frame and occurred The inquest records reviewed covered all deaths prior to hospitalisation. Figure 1 details both from injury referred to the coroner between inclusion and exclusion criteria. 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2013, and included the coroner’s report, police and Analysis ambulance statements, witness reports, the pathologist’s report and the post-mortem record. For each death, the following analysis was The three-year period was chosen to allow for the conducted to generate the probability of survival: completion of inquests. > In accordance with the AIS-1990, injuries were Data collected included: injuries sustained, ranked on a scale of one to six, with one being neurological injury, airway obstruction, co- minor, five severe and six a non-survivable morbidities and the presence of alcohol/other injury (Brohi 2007a). The AIS-1990 was used drugs. Details as to whether a bystander was to ensure comparison to the 1994 study. present, how the injured was discovered and 3 whether any first aid intervention was made were > From the AIS-1990, the Injury Severity Score also noted, alongside an estimate of time from (ISS) was calculated, which allows for an 3 The call for assistance was not classified as a first aid intervention.